Joe Fontelera has made it. The accomplished chef who once helmed the kitchen at Michelin-starred sushi station Arami has opened his own restaurant with a ton of personal meaning. Boonie’s is a Filipino American restaurant in the Lincoln Square area where Fontelera’s family first moved to after arriving in America. Find Fil-Am favorites from lumpia to loganissa executed with a modern edge and with a ton of joy. It’s a casual spot and poised to join Kasama as Chicago’s next great Filipino spot. For August, Boonie has added weekend lunch service.

Daisies is a pasta shop and Midwestern comfort restaurant that endeared itself to the Logan Square community in its tinier original iteration. In April, the operations moved a few blocks southeast, still along Milwaukee Avenue, to a gorgeous and roomier space. The kitchen has more amenities to serve a large menu of pasta (a giant seasonal ravioli is impressive; right now it’s stuffed with ramps) and more composed dishes. There are also delicious pastries and coffee (La Colombe’s roastery is just next-door). Daisies 2.0 is one of the hottest reservations in town.

Thattu is a restaurant that bridges relationships. It’s the story of its owners, Margaret Pak (a Korean American) and Vinod Kalathil (who’s from Kerala, India). Pak is charged with translating recipes from Kalathil’s mother, and the result is a humble, yet bold, South Indian restaurant, the likes the city has been waiting a long time to enjoy. The restaurant debuted with lunch and spicy chicken sandwiches and recently unveiled dinner service with a decadent pork chop inside a newly built-out space in Avondale.

Miru is the full-service restaurant inside the St. Regis, a new skyscraper with a hotel near Navy Pier. The all-day restaurant features sushi and Izakaya fare, plus a traditional American breakfast menu. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises went out of their way to design a restaurant that pushes modern sensibilities and there are also twin terraces for gorgeous views of Lake Michigan. As a bonus, Miru also serves a Japanese breakfast platter, something that’s hard to find in Chicago.

Otto Phan, the eccentric chef behind eight-seat omakase haven Kyoten in Logan Square, in April launched Kyoten Next Door, a more casual sequel in a neighboring space. In contrast to its more traditional and expensive older sibling, the new restaurant gives patrons a chance to try Phan’s 15-bite omakase menu for $159 per person — a drop from Kyoten’s $450 price tag.

The founding chef at Eater 38 member Rooh Chicago has moved on to open a pair of new Chicago restaurants. Last year, it was Sujan Sarkar’s take on Indian fine dining with Indienne. Now, with the assistance of another Rooh alum, Sahil Sethi, the team is taking a stab at “modern Middle Eastern” food with Sifr in River North. Find fresh pitas, plenty of grilled meats, and a plethora of small plates in a space that features a roof deck. “Sifr” is the Arabic word for “zero,” a concept that originated in India. That’s the narrative that the Indian chefs have built to connect their experiences with the restaurant.

While Diego’s ownership describes itself as a dive bar, not many “dive bars” have this sort of food and cocktail program. Helmed by Stephen Sandoval, who’s preparing to open his fine dining restaurant, Sueños, nearby, Diego is a casual spot with a patio that serves great bar bites: ceviches, tacos, burritos, and burgers. Sandoval’s style channels both San Diego and Tijuana. This is the type of food he served during the Sueños residency at Soho House.

Bonhomme Hospitality, the prominent restaurant group behind Michelin-starred Porto and Beatnik, unveiled this unabashedly escapist nightlife destination in late June, seeking to whisk patrons to a wonderland of spirits, spectacle, and sumptuous design. Swaddled in nearly a thousand yards of rich, plush designer Spanish fabric and outfitted with a collection of eight paintings by Spanish neo-expressionist Domingo Zapata, the opulent scene also includes drinks, such as the glittery Space Cowboy (tequila, coconut, rectified pineapple) and yuzu margarita (anejo tequila, fortified wine).

This soul food restaurant opened in 2022 but received a spark in late July thanks to a celebrity customer. With Beyonce riling up the hive for her two concerts at Soldier Field, her husband Jay-Z found some time to support a Black-owned restaurant by quietly visiting Bronzeville Soul. Restaurant owner Mario Coleman has since brought back a popular item, beef short ribs, and renamed them after Jay-Z. Try the Jigga Man short ribs and more.

Albany Park, one of Chicago’s most diverse dining neighborhoods, gained a prominent new entrant in late July with the debut of Maman Zari, a fine dining restaurant featuring the city’s — and perhaps the country’s — first Persian tasting menu. The nine-course tasting menu has a vegetarian option with a composed take on lamb shashlik, a watermelon and feta salad, and more.

Chef Matteo Lo Bianco (Volare, Coco Pazzo, Francesca’s) balances traditional Persian cuisine with contemporary culinary techniques.

Member-only Soho House has a new public-facing Mexican restaurant replacing Sueños, its old Mexican restaurant. But even though the furniture and surroundings remain the same, Calli is a different experience. Much has been written about how Jonathan Zaragoza’s mole is nut-free in keeping with Soho House’s rules (the building is nut-free), but the seafood — including the pescado zarandeado, a rotating selection of fish over charcoal — is a revelation. The mole is rich and is served vegetarian. There are enough hits on this menu to make visitors want to return, but the space is still hindered by long waits from a backed-up kitchen. Consistent execution and leadership would send Calli to new heights.

The Ohio House Hotel is a downtown landmark and so is its tiny corner coffee shop. Since the coffee shop, which served traditional American diner fare, closed, it’s been a revolving door of tenants. Schneider Deli hopes to halt the merry-go-round offering corned beef sandwiches and other traditional Jewish deli fare. 

Phodega’s relocation to a large space with more seating has been a success. The casual restaurant serves one of Chicago’s best bowls of pho and its fried chicken and rice is brilliant. The fried shrimp rolls are perfect stoner food — or an appetizer. There’s potential for a larger menu down the line, but folks reluctant to try Phodega have more of an incentive thanks to the move. Who knows — they just might like it.